Morning:
8°c
We see young people being shot at and beaten — and then, in a touching twist, pictures of demonstrators tending to an injured policeman.
What is happening in Iran reminds us of the 1979 revolution which brought so many of us Iranians, my family included, into our exile in London.
My parents supported the overthrow of the Shah but soon after, the ayatollahs made it clear that they were not going to keep their promises of freedom.
My father, a satirist, wrote articles criticising their regime.
A mob surrounded the offices of the national newspaper which printed his column, chanting for his execution.
My father continued his opposition in exile and wrote essays and poems in his own satirical publication, which resulted in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate him outside our home in Ealing.
The Islamic regime does not tolerate jokes at its expense.
The Iranian community in London find comfort in one another at this time. We all remain glued to the internet, radio and television.
We swap information given to us by friends and family in Tehran who we have managed to get hold of.
For unlike 1979, today's demonstrators are able to respond to batons and bullets with emails and “tweets”.
I read: “Logging off — must keep phone line open.” “Plain clothes police are going door to door.” “We have info that Tehran uni will be attacked.”
It's no wonder that the US State Department has urged Twitter Inc to postpone a planned upgrade — and temporary shutdown — freeing up a precious hour for demonstrators to get their messages across.
Remarkably, they are managing to organise without a nerve centre — were there one, Iran's clerical government would pulverise it.
Thus faced with the world's intent gaze, the Islamic Republic is at a loss what to do — to crack down with full force or to bide its time and wait for things to calm down.
Iran's government is perfectly capable of making Tehran's Azadi Square its Tiananmen.
Its problem is that the protests are now about something bigger than outrage at a rigged election.
The widely rejected election result was a psychological trigger: what we are seeing is a venting of frustration at 30 years of brutal dictatorship.
It is hard to predict what will happen now. The deaths of protesters could either further fuel demonstrators or send them retreating in fear for their lives.
But even if the government is able to silence the people on the streets this time, it's the start of a rebellion by the 60 per cent or so of Iranians who are under 35 and do not remember life before the Islamic regime.
As I watch the crowds on Tehran's streets, I think of my 19-year-old uncle Masood, who was shot dead while he was out demonstrating in the Iranian revolution of 1979.
Now, once again, it's the young who risk their lives for change.
One young Iranian friend of mine, a 24- year-old woman, told me that for her, Iran is a huge prison and that she has nothing to lose by marching in the streets.
Despite being far away and safe in our adopted city, we London Iranians protest, at least in spirit, with our young men and women in Iran.
No escape from an attack of the killer tomatoes
I have 32 tomato plants thriving in my tiny garden.
I don't particularly like tomatoes, I just didn't know you weren't meant to sow the entire pack of seeds.
Like so many Londoners who know absolutely nothing about gardening, but needed to get back to nature, I have planted things willy-nilly regardless of my soil quality and which way my garden faces.
I haven't the heart to execute the weaker of my plants, as Alan Titchmarsh instructs, and my neighbours have all begun to hide when they see me as I beg them to adopt yet more of my plants.
So I decided to put down my name for an allotment where I and my tomato plants could hang out together and thrive.
To my dismay, my borough told me that the waiting list is seven years.
I'm afraid by then I will have died from an overdose of tomato soup.
Kew is just dog-free heaven
This summer I did one of the most grown-up things I have ever done: I bought myself a season ticket to Kew Gardens.
I could claim that I have a keen interest in rare tropical plants or that walking around the pagoda gives me a sense of tranquillity and awe but I would be lying.
I love Kew Gardens simply because it's the only place in London my toddler can run and roll around on the grass without getting covered in dog poo.
Also, I will admit, I am a little scared of dogs.
The owner of a snarling Doberman told me recently: “S'alright! She won't bite you.”
That's about as reassuring as a man wielding an axe on the Tube snarling: “S'alright, I won't embed it in your head.”
Let me ride my bike in peace
I have started to ride a bike again. I admit, I wobble, but that really is no reason to beep aggressively at me or for the cyclists in Richmond Park with their fancy racing bikes to laugh at me. I am trying my best.
The other day I very nearly went under a bus: I mounted the pavement for my own safety.
From out of the bushes sprang a policeman who slapped me with a £30 fine.
As he lectured me on the law, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier did a big poo right next to my bike.
The Staff did not get a fine.
Reader views (4)
Happy that someone is speaking out against dog owners who allow their animals to crap all over public playing areas. There is so much of the vile stuff on our local football ground that it gives a new meaning to the term 'foul on pitch'.
Our council employs shoals of piranha-like parking wardens to nibble away at the disposable income of its residents. Could a few of these not be redirected to parks to pounce on selfish dog owners who do not wield poop bags behind their smelly pets?
Don't forget to water your tomatoes, Shappi.
- Jay Lalljee, London, UK, 20/06/2009 10:32
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As one cyclist to another here's some useful information.
When Home Office minister Paul Boateng introduced on the spot fines for cyclists on pavements he wrote: "The introduction of the fixed penalty is not aimed at responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of the traffic, and who show consideration to other pavement users." You were clearly fined unjustly and are entitled to a refund.
As for the owners of incontinent dogs, sow their bottoms up (the owners' nto the dogs') It's the only language they'll understand.
And as for the brave people of Iran, Khoda Hafez, may God protect you at this time.
- Ol Rappaport, Ealing, 18/06/2009 16:18
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The courage of Iranian demonstrators is very moving. Western observers must learn to encourage and support without intervening or giving the appearance of interfering. It is not for us to decide which are the weaker plants. Iranians are not tomatoes and we are not all of us Alan Titchmarsh.
- Bloke, London, 18/06/2009 13:18
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The Shah of Iran regime was definitley oppressive but Iran remained a civilized modern country.The current rulers of Iran made it oppressive and uncivilized.
- Naji Al-Zaid, kuwait,kuwait, 18/06/2009 10:45
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